I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5917 

To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants 

for career support for skilled, internationally educated health professionals, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 22, 2018 

Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services 

to award grants for career support for skilled, internationally educated health professionals, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Professional’s Access 

5 to Health Workforce Integration Act of 2018’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) According to the Association of Schools of 

2 Public Health, projections indicate a nationwide 

3 shortage of up to 250,000 public health workers by 

4 2020. 

5 (2) According to the Bureau of Labor Statis6 tics, the registered nurse workforce is projected to 

7 have 1,088,400 job openings by 2024 due to growth 

8 and replacement needs. 

9 (3) Similar trends are projected for other health 

10 professions indicating shortages across disciplines, 

11 including within the fields of neurology physicians 

12 (about 1,000 by 2025), geriatric physicians (nearly 

13 27,000 by 2025), mental and behavioral health, pri14 mary care (up to 43,100 by 2030), and community 

15 and allied health. 

16 (4) A nationwide health workforce shortage will 

17 result in serious health threats and more severe and 

18 costly health care needs, due to, in part, a delayed 

19 response to food-borne outbreaks, emerging infec20 tious diseases, natural disasters, fewer cancer 

21 screenings, and delayed treatment. 

22 (5) Vulnerable and underserved populations and 

23 health professional shortage areas will be most se24 verely impacted by the health workforce shortage. 


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1 (6) According to the New American Economy, 

2 World Education Services (WES), and Migration 

3 Policy Institute (MPI), nearly 2,000,000 college-edu4 cated immigrants in the United States are unem5 ployed or underemployed in low-skilled or semiskilled 

6 jobs that fail to draw on their education and exper7 tise. 

8 (7) According to the New American Economy, 

9 WES, and MPI report using data from 2009 to 

10 2013, 27 percent of highly skilled and internation11 ally educated naturalized citizens, 33 percent of 

12 highly skilled and internationally educated legal per13 manent residents, and 10 percent of highly skilled 

14 and internationally educated temporary visa holders 

15 were unemployed or underemployed. 

16 (8) According to the New American Economy, 

17 WES, and MPI report using data from 2009 to 

18 2013, 15 percent of immigrants with undergraduate 

19 degrees in medical health sciences and services were 

20 either underemployed or unemployed. 

21 (9) According to the New American Economy, 

22 WES, and MPI, underemployment of immigrants— 

23 highly skilled immigrants who are working in lower 

24 skilled occupations—results in an estimated loss of 


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1 $10.2 billion in tax revenue at the Federal, State, 

2 and local levels. 

3 (10) According to Upwardly Global and the 

4 Welcome Back Initiative, with proper guidance and 

5 support, underemployed, skilled immigrants typically 

6 increase their income by 215 percent to 900 percent. 

7 (11) According to the Brookings Institution and 

8 the Partnership for a New American Economy, im9 migrants working in the health workforce are, on av10 erage, better educated than United States-born 

11 workers in the health workforce. 

12 SEC. 3. GRANTS FOR CAREER SUPPORT FOR SKILLED, 

13 INTERNATIONALLY EDUCATED HEALTH PRO14 FESSIONALS. 

15 (a) AUTHORITY.—The Secretary of Health and 

16 Human Services acting through the Bureau of Health 

17 Workforce of the Health Resources and Services Adminis18 tration, the Director of the National Institute on Minority 

19 Health and Health Disparities of the National Institutes 

20 of Health, or the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Minority 

21 Health (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) may 

22 award 5 grants to eligible entities for career support for 

23 skilled, internationally educated health professionals, as 

24 described in subsection (c). 


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1 (b) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to receive a grant 

2 under this section, an entity shall— 

3 (1) be a clinical, public health, or health serv4 ices organization, a community-based or nonprofit 

5 entity, an academic institution, a faith-based organi6 zation, a State, county, or local government, an Area 

7 Health Education Center, or another entity deter8 mined appropriate by the Secretary; and 

9 (2) submit to the Secretary an application at 

10 such time, in such manner, and containing such in11 formation as the Secretary may require. 

12 (c) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—Subject to the re13 quirement in subsection (d), a grant awarded under this 

14 section shall be used— 

15 (1) to provide services to assist unemployed and 

16 underemployed skilled immigrants, residing in the 

17 United States, who have legal, permanent work au18 thorization and who are internationally educated 

19 health professionals— 

20 (A) to enter into the United States health 

21 workforce with employment matching their 

22 health professional skills and education; and 

23 (B) to advance in employment to positions 

24 that better match their health professional ex25 pertise and education; 


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1 (2) to provide training opportunities to reduce 

2 barriers to entry and advancement in the health 

3 workforce for skilled, internationally educated immi4 grants; 

5 (3) to educate employers regarding the abilities 

6 and capacities of internationally educated health 

7 professionals; 

8 (4) to assist in the evaluation of the foreign cre9 dentials of skilled, internationally educated health 

10 professionals; and 

11 (5) to facilitate access to contextualized and ac12 celerated courses on English as a second language 

13 for skilled, internationally educated health profes14 sionals. 

15 (d) SERVICE PERIOD.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—As a condition on receipt of 

17 a grant under this section, an eligible entity shall 

18 agree to require each health professional or immi19 grant receiving assistance pursuant to the grant (as 

20 described in paragraph (1), (2), (4), or (5) of sub21 section (c)) to commit to provide health care services 

22 to a medically underserved community for a service 

23 period determined under paragraph (2). 


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1 (2) DURATION OF SERVICE PERIOD.—The du2 ration of service period under paragraph (1) for an 

3 individual— 

4 (A) shall not exceed 1 year; and 

5 (B) shall be determined by the eligible en6 tity receiving the grant under this section, in 

7 consultation with the Secretary. 

8 (3) REMEDIES FOR BREACH OF SERVICE COM9 MITMENT.—The Secretary shall determine the rem10 edies to be made applicable in agreements pursuant 

11 to paragraph (1) for the breach by an individual of 

12 the service commitment required by such paragraph. 

13 (e) PERIOD OF A GRANT.—The period of a grant 

14 under this section shall be 3 years. 

15 (f) GRANTEE EVALUATION.—An eligible entity re16 ceiving a grant under this section shall use amounts pro17 vided through the grant— 

18 (1) to measure the impacts of activities funded 

19 through the grant over the 3-year grant period; and 

20 (2) to submit a reports to the Secretary on the 

21 results of such measurements. 

22 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To carry 

23 out this section, there is authorized to be appropriated 

24 $4,500,000 for the period of fiscal years 2019 through 

25 2021. 


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1 SEC. 4. GRANT FOR DATA COLLECTION SYSTEM. 

2 (a) AUTHORITY.—The Secretary of Health and 

3 Human Services acting through the Bureau of Health 

4 Workforce of the Health Resources and Services Adminis5 tration, the Director of the National Institute on Minority 

6 Health and Health Disparities of the National Institutes 

7 of Health, or the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Minority 

8 Health (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) may 

9 award 1 grant to an entity to establish, improve, or main10 tain a data collection system to analyze and track the out11 comes of programs in the United States (including those 

12 funded under section 3) for career support for skilled, 

13 internationally educated health professionals. 

14 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To carry 

15 out this section, there is authorized to be appropriated 

16 $250,000 for the period of fiscal years 2019 through 

17 2021. 

18 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 

19 In this Act: 

20 (1) The term ‘‘health professional’’ means an 

21 individual trained for employment in the field of 

22 public health, health management, dentistry, health 

23 administration, medicine, nursing, pharmacy, psy24 chology, social work, psychiatry, other mental and 

25 behavioral health, allied health, community health or 


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1 wellness (including fitness and nutrition), or other 

2 fields as determined appropriate by the Secretary. 

3 (2) The term ‘‘internationally educated’’ means 

4 having obtained an educational degree outside of the 

5 United States. 

6 (3) The term ‘‘medically underserved commu7 nity’’ has the meaning given to that term in section 

8 799B of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 

9 295p). 

10 (4) The term ‘‘underemployed’’ means being 

11 employed at less skilled tasks than an employee’s 

12 training or abilities would otherwise permit. 

Æ 


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